


you don't need tricks, you don't need treats

by redtodd



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, M/M, al and his bf invented love, also zahra if ur reading this i love u mwah, halloween time babey!!!, i fixated on writing this for a week SHOW ME SUPOOOOORT, winry and paninya are disaster idiot lesbians can we get a despacito
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 10:17:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16473674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redtodd/pseuds/redtodd
Summary: Ed liked Halloween, but Halloween meant going to a party in a house he'd never been to full of people he didn’t know. And Ed didn't like parties.But he liked Ling.Or, Ed accepts Ling's invite, goes to a Halloween party, and gets a boyfriend out of it.





	you don't need tricks, you don't need treats

**Author's Note:**

> no beta we die like lesnaibs!!
> 
> Happy Halloween!!

Ed didn’t hate Halloween, really, he actually quite enjoyed it. Or at least he _used_ to, back when it meant dressing up and going out with Al and Winry and collecting candy from houses in their neighbourhood, before they came to college and suddenly Halloween meant going to a party in a house he'd never been to full of people he didn’t know, as college parties tended to be like. One could say he hated parties, and one would be right to say so.

So when Ling sat down across from them at lunch and leaned over the table, all dimpled smile and crinkled eyes, and said, “I’m throwing a small party for Halloween at my house, and I’d really like it if you came,” Ed ignored Paninya’s excited _oooohhhh_ and looked back down at _Physical Chemistry for the Life Sciences_ , and said, “No, thanks.”

And that should have been the end of that. But Ling, annoying, determined Ling, all but climbed over the table to lean even closer to Ed, who did his best to focus on the text in front of him and not how Ling’s face hovered close to his. “ _Edward_ ,” Ling said, very seriously, and when Ed continued to ignore him, repeated it, this time drawing his name out, deliberately annoying him until he finally looked up at him with a frown and. Woah, okay. His face sure was close.

Ed leaned back in his chair, putting some distance between them, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t like parties, Ling,” he reminded him. “You know that.”

“I know,” Ling nodded, acknowledging the no less than thirty times Ed had made his opinion about parties and what people got up to in parties known. “But this is _barely_ a party, it’ll just be a few people. No one you don’t know.”

“C’mon, Ed,” Al spoke up, not looking up from his phone. He was undoubtedly texting his boyfriend, if the soft smile on his face was any indication.

“Yeah,” Paninya agreed, so of course when Ed looked over, Winry was nodding in agreement too. “Come on.”

“You don’t even need to dress up,” Ling promised.

“Fine,” Ed finally gave in with a sigh, ignoring how Ling seemed to light up, mouth opening in a wide smile, and how his traitorous heart  _thump thumped_ at the sight. And especially how Al, Winry and Paninya cheered when he relented. “But I’m not dressing up.”

Paninya booed, and Al said, “What’s even the point if you don’t?”

“That’s okay!” Ling waved off the others’ complaints and nodded, his bangs flopping all over the place. His grin didn’t falter. “I’m just happy you’ll come!”

Ed tried not to show how flustered the words made him. He ducked his head down to look at his book and shooed Ling back into his chair, for the sake of his weak, rapidly beating heart. And because Ling’s elbow was dangerously close to Ed’s bowl of soup. But mainly for his weak, rapidly beating heart.

“Do you have a test?” Ling asked once he had settled back into his chair. Ed didn’t have to look up to know he was looking at the book in confusion.

“No,” Ed shook his head. “This is light reading.”

“ _Light reading?_ ”

Ed nodded. “Yeah.”

“Nerd,” Ling said, and his voice was far too fond for it to be anything than affectionate.

Ed kept his head down and hoped his hair covered his blushing face and soft smile.

  
  


Ling invited them to his Halloween party on Thursday, two weeks before Halloween. Three days before the party, while sitting in a remote corner of the library long after the sky had gone dark and the majority of students had gone back to their homes, Ed texted Winry, _Are you dressing up for Ling’s party?_ and barely turned back to his reading, highlighting, and annotating before his phone was vibrating. Once. Twice. Three times.

 _of course????_ , Winry sent back, followed by, _r u not???_ , and then, _u better be dressing up._

 _No_ , Ed replied, and a second later, _I told Ling I wasn’t._

_it’s a halloween party?? dress up :gun:_

_Ling said costumes were optional!_

_ling’s also a dumbass gay who would’ve said anything to get u to come to the party_

_Shut up,_ Ed very eloquently wrote back, glad she wasn’t there to pointedly stare at the blush spreading over his cheeks. _Don’t say dumb shit._

 _it’s not dumb shit if it’s true,_ Winry’s reply was fast, and he eyed it for a moment before shaking his head. She still didn’t know if she and Paninya were dating, so he wasn’t going to take what she said to him at face value.

Ed turned back to his books, set his phone face-down at the table, and tried not to think about what Winry said. He had a midterm tomorrow, there were more important things to worry about, like Rayleigh's method of indices, or fouling factors, or anything other than whether or not he should listen to Winry and wear a costume. Or the ever present smile on Ling’s face, and how he’d react to Ed showing up in a costume, and. Well, that made his decision for him, didn’t it?

He shook his head again to clear it, and concentrated on his studying. First, he had a test to study for. And then, costumes.

  
  


_good luck on your test!!!!_ , Ling texted him the next morning, followed by a thumbs-up and at least fifteen confetti emojis, and Ed had to bite his lip to hide his wide goofy smile and not look like a madman who spent all of last night in the library studying for his test.

  
  


(He aced the test, naturally.)

  
  


With the test out of the way, he had time to worry about things, like the empty state of his fridge, and Ling’s Halloween party. Mostly Ling’s Halloween party. Namely, his costume. Or lack thereof.

“What should I wear to Ling’s party?” Ed breached the topic with Paninya, if only because he knew Winry would never let him live it down if he asked her. And because she’d suggest something ridiculous, like Batman. Or Naruto.

“I thought you weren’t dressing up,” Paninya asked, peering at him over her steaming cup of… whatever it was she ordered. “Why do you suddenly care?”

“Nothing. No reason. I _don’t_ care.”

Paninya’s hum was sceptic, her raised eyebrow even more so.

“Fine. Whatever. I don’t need your help anyway.” He did. “Drink your stupid drink.”

“Uh-huh,” Paninya rolled her eyes, took a sip of her drink, then paused. “If you dress up as a vampire I will not be held accountable to what happens to you.”

Ed blinked. “Are you going as a vampire?”

“Yeah.”

He tried to picture it, the fangs and the red eyes and the blood dripping down her chin. Was she going with the classic, Draculaesque vampire, or was she thinking of something more along the lines of a modern vampire, like Marceline? Both would certainly be… interesting choices. Honestly, he thought her plan was to cut eye holes in a white sheet and call it a day, but maybe that was just what he’d do if he wasn’t trying to impress his dumbass crush. Oh the things he did for love.

“I wouldn’t make a good vampire anyway, so don’t worry about that.”

  
  


Ed wasn’t at Target for any costume-related reason, but there were Halloween-related items on every conceivable surface of Target, from cheap vampire kits, cliche witch costumes and flying brooms, to fake spiderwebs and pirate hook-hands and what looked like an adult-size Spongebob costume. And right next to all of that was a hat. A cowboy hat.

Ed stared at the cowboy hat, then pulled out his phone.

 _Cowboy?_ he wrote to Al, looking at the hat like it held the secrets to eternal life. Or just to getting Ling to like him back.

_extremely cryptic, thanks._

_Would I make a good cowboy?_

_are you considering a career change, or… ?_

Ed rolled his eyes, though a smile tugged at his lips. _For Halloween, dumbass._

 _you are mean to me you insult me and you dont appreciate anything that i,_ Al texted back, then when Ed didn’t reply, sent, _whyre you asking, anyway?_

 _I’m at Target,_ Ed told him.

_can you get me my lactaid pills? im running out_

_Will you give me back the hoodie you stole?_

_no_

_Then perish._

He pocketed his phone and stared at the hat some more, and then he was grabbing it and throwing it inside his basket. Once he did that, he threw all inhibitions to the wind and started assembling the missing pieces of his costume. Which didn’t amount to much: a pair of chaps, a pack of five toy guns, and a pair of cowboy boots. He tried to convince the cashier to only sell him the right shoe, but. Well. It didn’t work.

  
  


It wasn’t until he walked all the way back to his building that he realised he forgot to buy the socks he’d gone to Target to buy in the first place.

  
  


One of his suitemates was putting up the last of her Halloween decorations when he pushed the door open with his foot. His bags of what barely constituted as a costume, and simultaneously the worst $25 spent this month, hung from his wrists.

“Hello, Ed!” Zahra turned to wave at him from where she was standing on a chair, black and orange tinsel held in one hand and a roll of double sided tape in the other.

“Hey, Zahra,” he shut the door behind him and chucked his keys into the wooden key bowl behind the door. “Getting ready for Halloween?”

“I am,” she nodded, lips curved into a sweet smile. “Do you have plans?”

“Looks like it,” he put the bags on the kitchen island and bent down to untie his shoe. “Ling’s throwing a small party - more of a hangout, really. So… ”

“Well, enjoy your time,” she told him, hanging up the last of the tinsel then hopping off the chair and stepping back to admire her handiwork.

“Looks good,” Ed commented. “What about you? You doing anything?”

“Rose is coming over and we’re gonna marathon Halloween movies,” Zahra said, smile soft as she mentioned her girlfriend, and Ed couldn’t help but smile back.

“Tell her I said hi,” Ed called over his shoulder, picking up his bags and shoe and retreating into his room.

“Will do!”

  
  


They were running late by the time Winry finally stepped out of her room, blonde hair teased into an unrecognisable mess around her head and large, black goggles pushed up to her forehead. Her long white lab coat and black rubber gloves were bloodstained, and so was the surgical mask pulled down around her neck.

“Ready to go?” Winry asked, fiddling with the plastic test tubes hanging from the black belt around her waist.

“Ten minutes ago, yes,” Zahra replied for him, standing behind the counter in her vampire costume. Good thing she wasn’t going to the party, though Ed doubted Paninya would be as upset with Zahra being a vampire than she would be if it was Ed.

She was pouring two candy bags into a large plastic bowl. When Ed had asked why she was doing that when “no trick-or-treaters come to student accomodations looking for candy, _anyway_ ,” she’d levelled him with a flat stare and bit into a twix bar. “These’re for me ‘n Rose,” she’d told him, to which he’d said, “Understandable, have a nice night.”

Ed got up from the couch and fixed the cowboy hat on his head. “Let’s go.”

“Yeah, let’s,” Winry grinned, and the two of them left the suite with a “Enjoy your night!” and a “Have fun with Rose!” thrown over their shoulders at Zahra.

  
  


Fake candles lined the driveway up to the jack-o’-lanterns stacked on either side of the porch stairs, and broomsticks were neatly lined against the balustrade. Fake spiderwebs and orange fairy lights hung from the porch roof and wrapped around the columns, and cardboard witch silhouettes were at the windows, one of which seemed to be standing at a large cauldron.

“They really went all out, huh,” Winry nodded approvingly, toeing at a skeleton hand sticking out of the dirt to her right.

Ed made his way up to the door, which was artfully covered in bloody handprints, and rang the bell. Which of course echoed, because why _wouldn’t_ it.

Greed opened the door in a black bodysuit and leather pants, a pair of cat ears perched on his head and a smirk plastered on his face. Ed took in the black dot on his nose and the thin whiskers drawn on his face, and would have turned around and gone back to his dorm if not for Winry’s grip on his arm.

“Hello, hello,” Greed greeted, leaning against the doorway and looking over their costumes appraisingly. “Look who finally showed.”

“What the fuck are you wearing?”

“I’m a cat,” he said, and then, very monotonously, “Meow.”

Ed rolled his eyes and pushed past Ling’s older, somehow more annoying, brother and into the large, elaborate house. God, sometimes he forgot how fucking _loaded_ Ling’s family was. The inside of the house was covered with more Halloween decorations than the outside was, somehow, with more spiderwebs and fairy lights put up around the hallway and up the stairs. There were small bats hung up on the walls, and a few skeletons dangled from the ceiling.

“Does your family know how to do anything in moderation?” Ed asked, eyeing the _coffin_ against the wall to his left.

“Nope!”

Winry was peering closely into a fake mirror dripping with blood when he took another look around, bringing her gloved hand up to poke at it when she asked, “Who’s already here?”

“Just your girlfriend,” Greed said, his smirk turning into a full blown grin when Winry _squeaked_ and tripped over herself to correct him with a high-pitched “she’s not my girlfriend!”

“If you say so.”

  
  


They found Paninya in the sitting room, sitting cross-legged on an armchair and holding a bowl of mini marshmallows. She was in a costume Ed couldn’t immediately place, dressed in a white shirt and a long grey vest, with some kind of fabric belt tied around her middle. She was wearing black leggings tucked into tall, brown boots with way too many buckles. And a masquerade mask, for some reason.

“I thought you said you were gonna be a vampire?”

Paninya grinned, and her fangs flashed in the light. “Vampirate, baby.”

Winry _oohed_ and _aahed_ over Paninya’s clever costume, her eyes practically turning into large hearts as she asked Paninya to “Give us a twirl!”, and Ed shook his head at the way the two kept dancing around each other. Everyone saw how much they both liked each other, he didn’t understand why it was taking _them_ so long to figure that out.

“I’m gonna… go find Ling,” and give the two of them some time alone.

  
  


He didn’t find Ling, but he found Lan Fan in the kitchen, emptying a large bag of chips directly into their mouth while, of all possible costumes, dressed as Sasuke fucking Uchiha. He gave them a small wave in greeting.

“Where’s Ling?” he asked them, reaching for the pack of ginger nut biscuits on the kitchen table.

“Have you checked his bathroom?”

His bathroom. That indicated the presence of many bathrooms, one of which belonged only to Ling. Ed thought it was bizarre. These rich people with their own bathrooms. He had to share one of the two bathrooms in the suite with Denny, and here Ling was. With his own bathroom. All to himself. Wild.

“Which bathroom is that?”

Lan fan looked at him the way one might look at someone speaking to them in a foreign language. Or the way one might look at someone asking them which bathroom in this many-bathroomed house was Ling Yao’s. “The one in his room.”

Of course. Well, at least he knew where that was.

“Thanks,” he tipped his hat at them and grabbed a pack of skull-shaped jellies on his way out of the kitchen. He glanced at the sitting room as he passed by the doorway, smiling when he heard Winry and Paninya’s laughter, and climbed up the stairs.

  
  


Ling’s “room”, in fact, took up the right half of the first floor, and Ed was never going to get over that. The door was open, and Ling’s terrible singing filtered into the hallway. Warmth spread honey-slow through Ed’s chest, and a heavy swell of affection rushed over him as he listened to Ling try, and fail, to sing _Honey, Honey_ in tune.

Ed shook his head, fond, and thought, _Fool_ .

But then again, who was more foolish, the fool (Ling), or the fool who had a crush on him (Ed)?

Ed stepped into Ling’s room. And stopped.

“What the fuck.”

Gone was Ling’s signature ponytail and bangs, and instead his hair was pulled back into a loose bun at the nape of his neck, a few stubborn strands falling around his face. He had a cowboy hat on top of his head and a triangle red bandana hanging from around his neck. He wore jeans and chaps, and a pair of sturdy, brown cowboy boots - an almost exact replica of Ed’s own. Though where Ed wore a brown coat over his vest, Ling’s vest hung open over his bare chest.

Ling spun around, eyes wide. He blinked, once, twice, looked over Ed’s own cowboy costume, and grinned. And then, in a terrible southern accent, he said, “Howdy, partner.”

“Why didn’t anybody tell me you were dressing up as a cowboy?” Ed demanded, more flustered than upset by the turn of events. He crossed his arms and very pointedly did _not_ look at Ling’s chest. Well, he tried. But it was _right there.  
_

“I reckon it’s cause I ain’t tell anybody, partner,” he turned off the music and leaned back against his cluttered desk.

“Stop saying partner.”

“Well, I’ve got to stay in character, don’t I?” Ling winked.

“Your costume isn’t even accurate!” Ed gestured vaguely at Ling’s upper body, his lack of a shirt.

“Accuracy don’t matter when I’m looking this good,” the accent was somehow getting worse by the second, and Ed couldn’t help but find it somewhat endearing. Of course, he was never going to tell Ling that. Especially not after he just wiggled his eyebrows at him like that. “Can I say _this town ain’t big enough for both of us?_ ”

“Shut up.”

“Alright,” Ling’s awful, terrible, beautiful smile widened. “Whatever you want, darlin’.”

There he went again with his dumbass heart doing the fucking macarena in his chest.

“Are you spending the whole night here, or are you coming downstairs?” Ed finally asked.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ling shook his head and gestured at the door, waiting for Ed to turn and lead the way before pushing himself off of the desk and following him. “Wanna help me bring the snacks to the sitting room?” Ling asked as he pulled the door closed behind them.

“Sure,” Ed shrugged, (fondly) rolling his eyes at Ling’s “Thank you kindly,” and walked alongside him back down the stairs and to the kitchen. Ling popped his head into the sitting room to greet everyone with a “Howdy, y’all!” as they passed it, stupid charming grin and all.

Lan Fan wasn’t in the kitchen when they walked in, and he figured they had joined the other two in the sitting room with their bag of chips.

“Where’s Al?” Ling asked as he pulled coke cans out of the fridge and set them on the kitchen table. Ed stood to the side, wringing his hands and looking around for something to do until Ling looked over his shoulder at him and said, “There’s cookies in the oven, can you get them?”

He did that. And then he stole a few cookies off the tray. “Amir doesn’t know where your house is,” Ed said through a mouthful of delicious chocolate chip cookies. “So Al’s meeting him at the park and they’re walking here.”

“And they say chivalry is dead.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ed shook his head, smiling when Ling stopped holding his hand up to his chest dramatically and turned back to bags of chips he was pulling out of the cupboards.

  
  


Al and Amir arrived last, ten minutes later than what would be considered fashionably late and wrapped in bandages from head to toe. The bottom half of Al’s face was partially covered by the bandages, but his broad smile could be seen as he waved at everyone, his other hand clasped with Amir’s between them.

“Sorry we’re late!”

“What took you two so long?” Winry asked, picking the green m&ms out of the bowl of trail mix and holding onto them in her cupped hand.

“We were making out,” Amir said, voice flat, and Ed didn’t want to know whether he was joking or not.

“Yeehaw!” Ling cheered, leaning over Winry to highfive Amir, then a very red and sputtering Al.

As if sensing Al’s presence, a loud meow joined the array of noises greeting the couple, and a moment later Xiao-Mei was in the room and rubbing against Al’s mummified leg until he bent down to pet her.

“Your matching costumes are adorable,” Paninya said.

“Mr. and Mr. Mummy,” Lan Fan added with a small smile.

“Thanks!” Al brightened at the compliment, nudging his shoulder against Amir’s when he sat down next to him to pet Mei’s munchkin cat.

“Are you two matching, too?” Amir looked between Ed and Ling, his smile visible where his bandages were pulled under his chin. “That’s cute.”

Ed shoved some more peanuts into his mouth and sank deeper into the couch, his face on fire and heart doing funny little jumps as it tried to jump out of his chest. His quiet “We’re not matching,” went unheard.

“Thank you kindly,” Ling smiled and nodded in thanks, winking at Ed when he turned to look at him. “Now, can we start this party?”

  
  


Greed, having joined them in the sitting room at some point, put on some music. Lan Fan immediately changed it to actual good music that everyone can enjoy. Then they all argued about movies for thirty minutes.

  
  


The first trick-or-treaters of the night arrived at 6pm, and they all turned away from Taika Waititi’s face on the very large screen to look at each other when the doorbell rang. Lan Fan sighed and, not very gently, kicked their brother’s side until Ling groaned and got up from the couch with an “alright, _alright._ ”

“He’s on candy duty,” they explained, straightening out their legs to take over the entire couch with Ling answering the door. “Since Greed left to go out with his crew.”

“How’d you decide on that?” Paninya asked.

“We arm wrestled,” Lan fan said, grinning. “He lost, of course.”

“This is so sad, Alexa, play despacito,” Al deadpanned from where he was lying on the floor, his head in Amir’s lap, and opened another pack of skittles.

The opening chords of _Despacito_ filled the room.

“Oh my god,” Ed said, horrified.

“Oh my god,” Winry said, gleeful.

  
  


With children knocking at the door approximately every 15 seconds, Ling was eventually exiled to the hallway and left to answer the door and hand out candy while the rest of them finished _What We Do in the Shadows_ . Ed kept glancing at the door, then at the clock, wondering if Ling would have enough time to spend with them after the trick-or-treaters stopped coming. With how the doorbell didn’t seem to be ringing any less as the night went on, he doubted it.

He chewed at his lip, thinking. He wasn’t as into the movie as the other five were, and was mostly just looking at the occasional meme Ling sent him. Or taking photos of Xiao-Mei curled around Al’s head, though they turned out subpar because of the darkness of the room. And, well.

He partly came to hang out with Ling. Mostly.

“I’m gonna… get some water,” Ed excused himself, though only Lan Fan seemed to have heard him, giving him a thumbs up on his way out. He didn’t like the almost _knowing_ smile that toyed at their lips. He walked out to find Ling sat at the stairs, cheek resting on one hand as he scrolled through his phone with the other.

“Hey,” Ed knocked his foot against Ling’s to get his attention, smiling down at him when he looked up from his phone. His surprise melted into a pleased smile as he pocketed his phone.

“Hey, Ed.”

“Having fun?”

“Yes, I love being on candy duty instead of hanging out with my friends,” Ling leaned back against the stair behind him, still smiling up at Ed. And what a weird angle that was. Ed was used to looking up at Ling’s tall bastard self, so this was just. Weird.

“I guess you don’t want my company, then,” Ed crossed his arms over the railing and leaned against it.

“Don’t leave me all by my lonesome, partner,” Ling whined, near _pouting_ at Ed.

So he didn’t.

  
  


Candy duty, Ed soon found out, was actually pretty entertaining, though he supposed that could be because he had Ling with him to keep it exciting. He somehow thought of a different way to greet the children every time he opened the door, all broad grin and terrible accent and _yeehaw_ s that easily had the children bursting into laughter. Who knew Ling was good with kids?

Ed let him have his fun with his performance while he took on the task of actually handing out candy to the costumed kids.

Mei stopped by a short while later, dressed as Toph Beifong, complete with pale blue eye contacts and her hair gathered in a large mound. She triumphantly held up an enormous bag of candy for Ling to see as soon as he opened the door with a “Howdy!”.

“Oh, it’s you,” Ling dropped the cowboy act once he saw it was his sister, stepping back from the door to let her in. “Why’re you back early?”

“I’m just getting the backup candy bag,” Mei said, rolling her eyes. Ed mouthed _Backup candy bag?_ at Ling, but he just shrugged, which was a great help. These rich kids with their _backup candy bags_. Ridiculous.

  
  


An hour of handing out candy later and Ed and Ling were back to sitting on the stairs, sitting close together and Ling’s phone in Ed’s hand as they watched a bongo cat compilation video. At some point in the past hour, Ling’s head had fallen onto Ed’s shoulder, and after no less than ten minutes of endless internal screaming Ed leaned his head against Ling’s, letting out a huffed laugh when Ling sputtered at his hair falling into his face.

“Can we watch a tiny kitchen video?” Ling asked.

“Sure,” Ed said, glad Ling couldn’t see his dumb, fond smile with the way they were sitting.

  
  


“D’you want candy?” Ling asked, reaching into the bag next to him when Ed gave a slight nod of his head. He pulled out a 3 Musketeers bar and offered it to Ed, who hummed in thanks.

“Full size bars?”

“We can afford it, so…” Ling shrugged, pulling out a Snickers bar for himself. “Why do you think so many kids come to our house?”

“Your amazing good looks and charming personality?”

“Aw, you think I’m handsome?”

“What?” Ed sputtered, his words catching up with him. “No! I mean. Objectively? You have a good face.”

“You have a good face, too,” Ling told him, and Ed could almost hear the smile in his voice. It made him feel all funny and warm inside.

“Shut up.” At least he couldn’t see his blushing face.

  
  


“Sorry you ended up stuck out here with me,” Ling said, leaning back against the railing and turning to give Ed a small, apologetic smile. Which he didn’t expect, nor understand. Because Ed could have gone back to the others at any point during the night, but he didn’t.

“I joined you out here, didn’t I?” Ed knocked his shoulder against Ling’s, his own lips curving into a smile. “ _Partner._ ”

Ling’s smile grew at that.

“Well, I’m glad I was stuck out here with you,” Ling said. His voice was quieter now, softer, and his eyes were softer too. Ling’s hair was out of its bun and falling past his shoulders in soft waves, the shorter strands curling around his face, softening the sharp angles of it. Ed’s breath left him in a quiet sigh.

“Your hair’s pretty like that,” Ed said, watching as red bloomed across Ling’s cheekbones and nose. Then, “Ling, I…”

“Yeah?” Ling’s face was close enough Ed could see the small, thin scar on the bridge of his nose, the freckle in the corner of his right eye. “What is it?”

What was he saying again?

His eyes fell to Ling’s smiling mouth.

Ed kissed him, soft and slow with his fingers curling into his hair, tugging on the strands as Ling's lips moved against his. Ed’s eyes fluttered shut, the noise coming from the sitting room fading away into white noise until all there was was his heart was thudding against his chest and Ling’s lips on his and Ling’s hand falling to rest on his hip and. Ling.

“You kissed me,” Ling’s eyes were wide when he pulled back, his blush spreading to the tips of his ears and down his neck.

“No I didn’t,” Ed said, you know, like a liar. Then he leaned in to press a quick kiss to the corner of Ling’s mouth before he could overthink it too much.

“You just did it again!” Ling pointed at him accusingly, though its effect was lessened by his smile and the way his face was beginning to resemble a strawberry. Cute. “Does that mean you _like_ me?”

Ed crossed his arms and did his best to become one with the wall behind him. The staircase, though bigger than the one in Ed’s building, didn’t leave too much space between them. Especially not with Ling leaning closer to him, dark eyes peering at him closely. “Maybe so,” he finally said.

Ling grinned. “I like you, too,”

Then _he_ leaned in and kissed Ed.

His hand rose to rest below Ed’s ear, thumb brushing against his cheek as they kissed. Ed’s hands hovered between them, unsure, before he curled his hand in Ling’s vest, right on his chest.

“Hey,” Ling said, pulling back just slightly. His voice was low and and lips brushed against Ed’s as he spoke. “Looks like this town _is_ big enough for both of us.”

“Idiot,” Ed said, tucking his face between Ling’s neck and shoulder to hide his smile.

  
  


The next two hours passed in a blur. At some point Mei came back and took Xiao-Mei from the sitting room before going up to her room, and the doorbell stopped ringing. And Ed and Ling stayed on the stairs, eating candy and watching videos and holding hands. And kissing, a little. But mostly they talked, about everything and nothing and college and their siblings. And this new, budding relationship between them.

The night came to an end too early for Ed’s liking, and soon enough he and Winry were at the door and saying goodbye. Paninya was already gone, having left an hour earlier to catch the last bus home. Al and Amir had taken their spot on the stairs while they quietly discussed whether or not Amir should call a taxi to get home or if he should just crash at Al’s suite. Lan Fan was leaning against the sitting room doorway with a Capri Sun while Ling was stood at the door with them, looking for all the world like he didn’t want them to leave.

“Thanks for the party, it was fun,” Winry waved at Lan Fan before giving Ling a hug.

“Thanks for coming!” Ling grinned over her shoulder at Ed, who shook his head back at him. Fondly, of course.

“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world,” Winry told him, very seriously, before stepping back. “Right, Ed?”

“Sure.”

Winry rolled his eyes, which he knew because she turned around to make sure he saw it. She gave a last wave to everyone before turning and heading down the driveway.

“Well, see you tomorrow,” Ling told him, lips curved into a smile.

“See you,” Ed gave a slight nod of his head, smiled, then followed after Winry, hands stuffed in candy-wrapper-filled pockets.

“Did you have fun?” Winry asked.

He thought back to sitting on the stairs with Ling, to watching dumb pointless videos, to throwing candy corn at Ling while he tried to catch it with his mouth, to Ling leaning in to kiss him before burping in his face. He smiled. “Yeah. I did.”

**Author's Note:**

> 1) a hundred billion thanks and heart emojis to everyone who hyped me up as i wrote this!! i love u all mwah *3*  
> 2) yeehaw  
> 3) this was supposed to be At Most 3k. oof.  
> 4) originally the fic ended with ling kissing ed at the door before he and winry left, but i figured with the two of them Just Getting Together they wouldn't really let everyone know That Soon  
> 5) straight after the last scene, ed gets a text from ling that's just approximately 50 yellow hearts and a kissy emoji. gay rights!
> 
> you can find me at @joey-wilson and @edlings on tumblr!! do come and scream about all things fmab with me!
> 
> i hope this fic, at the very least, made you smile one (1) time!


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